NEWS
FameLab Olympics in Dublin – gold for Jan Kalina!
Barely 2 weeks before the opening of London 2012, the British Council and Cheltenham Festivals organised an exciting science and sports event within the Dublin City of Science! “Famelab Olympics” brought together alumni from national FameLab competitions from 10 EU countries – Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the UK. Each delivered short 3-minute pieces on science and sports – you could hear anything from fuzzy logic in football to how the brain recognizes the body of the sprinter is moving. The audience voted their favourite presenter who was judged according to Famelab’s golden rule – the 3C’s: Content, Clarity and Charisma.
Congratulations to the three medallists: the bronze went to Anna Christodoulou from Greece, the silver was for Jenni Tilley from the UK and the gold medal went to Jan Kalina from the Czech Republic! Jan explained how to predict genetic predisposition to heart failures. Congratulations!
19 scientists. 4 continents. One big question… Who was crowned the FameLab International champion 2012?
The FameLab international final was held on 15 June and the quality of the contestants was phenomenal. This was borne out by the fact that there were three different winners: the panel voted for Didac Carmona representing Austria (originally from Spain), the audience voted for Monika Koperska from Poland, and the online vote was for Andrew Steele from the UK. Marcus Brigstocke, the English comedian who was part of the jury tweeted ‘FameLab was brilliant. Some seriously inspiring and clever people’.
Jan Klusak from the Czech Republic represented us very well, his performance made the audience laugh.
Before the final, the Famelabbers and the British Council FameLab team met with Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, who was clearly also impressed with the initiative. He said: “The importance of communicating science to get people enthusiastic requires people like you to talk about it. Science is not national, it can't be….in this country we want to make sure we are open to people from other countries to come here to study and work. I want to make sure we are open and welcoming, and you are ambassadors for this kind of work."
Have a look at some photos from the event.
The British Council and its Czech partners, Karel Janecek Foundation, Tomas Bata Foundation, ADETO and the Academy of Sciences are preparing ‘The Echos of FameLab’ this November in Prague.
Jan Klusak is the FameLab winner!
Dejvické Theatre in Prague hosted scientists on Sunday 6 May. Ten finalists selected in two regional heats had each their ‘one-man show’ in the FameLab competition. The finalists represented research institutes of the Academy of Sciences and Technical Universities. In their three-minute performances they gave the audience an entertaining insight into their field. The winner will represent the Czech Republic in the finals in England on 12-17 June 2012.
FameLab Timeline 2012:
18.3.2012 14:00 - regional heat, Praha 1, Husova 20, Clam – Gallas Palace. Have a look at some photos here.
31.3.2012 15:00 - regional heat, Zlín, Gahurova 292, Baťova vila. Have a look at some photos here.
14.-15.4.2012 - masterclass, Liblice castle
6.5.2012 19:00 - national final, Dejvické theatre, Zelená ul., Praha 6
12.-17.6.2012 - international final, Cheltenham, UK
Who can take part in Famelab
To enter FameLab you must be at least 21 years old, working in or studying science, technology, engineering or maths and working or studying in the Czech Republic.
This includes private and public sector employees. The competition aims to provide new opportunities for engineers and scientists to develop their skills as communicators.
